protect him | grayson hawthorne

Chapter 1 : Grayson

She smiles, though. "Sorry I was late, my brother forgot to tell me what time I had to show up."

"It's fine, don't worry," I smile too, I never smile. It's almost as if smiling is actually contagious. "I do have to get to the foundation right now, it won't take too long."

"Alright, we can go now if you want?" She gestures to the black SUV parked a few feet away from Hawthorne House. I assume that's the car I'll have to use from now on. I also assume im not gonna be able to drive myself anywhere anymore.

"Yeah, that would be ideal." I nod.

She turns and starts walking towards the car. I follow her, closing the front door behind me. She opens the back door for me, as if I'm some kind of princess. I get in the car, though, she's just doing her job.

Once I'm in the car, she gets in the front seat and starts the car. There's a little window between the back seat and front seat, probably for privacy. So I lean back in my seat and try to relax. Hard to relax when you're in a strangers car, but she's not really a stranger, I guess. I know her brother, but I don't know her. Is she anything like Oren? What even is her name?

Then I remember, I don't relax. I never relax, because I'm a Hawthorne. Not just any Hawthorne. I'm the heir apparent. So I do not, under any circumstance, relax.

I lean forward in my seat and knock on the window. She glances at me and rolls the window down.

"What's your name?" I asked. Stupid question, but I should know her name.

"Taylor." She replies simply. She doesn't say anything else, just her name.

So she's straightforward, from what I can tell. Doesn't like to beat around the bush, just gets straight to the point. Good, I was never one for small talk anyway.

"Grayson." I say in response, unsure of what else to say. Stupid thing to say, she obviously knows my name, it's her whole job.

"I know." She stated. Another example of straightforwardness.

I sit back in my chair, deciding conversation is just useless right now. I'll get to the foundation, upload my pictures and then we can go home. Will she be coming back to Hawthorne House with me? Probably, Oren lives there too.

I'll probably have to talk to her a bit more, I think that's what people do with there bodyguards. Or maybe not. I actually have no idea what people do with there bodyguards. I'll figure it out, I always do.

༻✧༺

We get home an hour later. All I did at the foundation was upload some pictures and leave, so it wasn't gonna take too much time.

Taylor left a few minutes ago. "John said he was gonna show me my room." She said. It's odd that she calls him John, though of course she would. Her last name is also Oren, so why would she call him Oren?

I stand up from my spot on my bed, where I've been for the past twenty minutes. I need to find a way to adjust to this whole bodyguard situation.

I walk over to the bathroom and turn on the shower. I turn the knob to cold. I hate warm showers. It's too comfortable, too relaxing, I need to stay sharp, not relax because of a shower.

When the water is a nice temperature, I take off my jacket, then my pants, then my shirt. My underwear and socks next, and then I walk into the shower.

Should I just try and be normal about this arrangement? My grandfather seems normal, almost at home, with bodyguards around him. Bodyguards, plural. So why can't I be normal about one? I'll get used to it, just need some time to adjust.

I close my eyes, feeling the water hit against me. Feeling it run down my face, down my chest, down my legs. Feeling how my wet hair sticks to the back of my neck. Feeling how fast my heart is beating, even though I have no idea why.

Everything's gonna be fine, Grayson, you'll handle it. You always do.

I open my eyes suddenly. Why am I even worried? This is one of the most normal things for someone with my status. They all have bodyguards, and they're fine about it. Just suck it up, and stop worrying. You don't even need to worry.

Suck it up, there's people out there with much worse problems. Problems more important than not knowing how to talk to your own bodyguard.

I take a sharp inhale of breath. I need to relax. But Grayson Hawthorne doesn't get to relax, so I turn the knob more towards cold. The water immediately turns freezing cold. The kind of temperature that would give someone hypothermia. But I need to suck it up.

I need to stop being soft. Need to stop worrying over stuff that don't need worries. Need to get over myself, and do my job. That job is being the heir apparent. And the heir apparent doesn't freak out over little things. In fact, the heir apparent doesn't freak out at all.

(I told u guys my chapters are short. This one's only like 1.6k words. I'll try and extend the chapter length in the future but I guess it's just the start of the story, so we'll see what happens🫠)